Dordogne Region, France.

This week we were at the International Sales and Technical meeting of the ARC Group, held this year in the Château des Vigiers. This golf resort is in the Dordogne Region. Dordogne is a department of France, set between the Loire Valley and Pyrenees mountains. It’s known for prehistoric cave paintings in the Vézère Valley, like those in Lascaux Cave. It's also known for its wine.

The rooms were quite comfortable, although it is an old Chateau and when we had some heavy rain on Monday, some of the rooms flooded, in fact our dear friend Hans-Jürgen was forced to move to a new room as a result. Luckily without any damage to his personal belongings.

The Chateau is now converted to a golf resort. European golf is very expensive. You have to get a certification, called a green card, that says you are proficient. I was told this card costs 2,000 Euro and then you still have to pay green fees, resort membership, etc. just as you would in the US.

Our meetings were held in one of the main rooms of the Chateau. They are pretty intense because we cover a lot of material in a short time to allow time for the activities that bring us together for some great bonding experiences.

Even if the meetings require a lot of concentration, there is usually time for a coffee break.

Monday evening we had dinner at the Chateau, but Tuesday we had a chance to try some adventures. We traveled to Sarlat-la-Canéda, where we had the choice of several options including visiting The Hanging Gardens of Marqueyssac which could be combined with Via Ferrata. Via Ferrata looked too much like a reoccurring nightmare that I have, so we chose option 3, canoeing.

This was a nine kilometer trip of the 5 castles. There was a lot of water in the river and it took less than the two hours planned for us to finish.

We saw a lot of Swans and a Blue Heron. One pair of Swans had two Signet's, but Mom and Dad kept their bodies between us and their "ugly ducklings" as much as possible.

It was beautiful and interesting scenery all the way. At one point we could see our colleagues who chose Via Ferrata, clinging to the cliff walls as we passed.

Really a great experience and we felt we made the right choice.

Dinner was in the medieval village of Salat. Here our Patron is giving a history lesson. Pierre's love of the outdoors and interest in history make all of these outings fun.

Some of our team from Shanghai.

We need to do some more research to understand why these massive steel doors are here. It must have been built in place. I can't imagine the crane to bring it in otherwise.

Barbara and Yeonui hit it off right away and quickly became BFF. Yeonui just recently joined Korea Data, our partner in Seoul and is now part of the family.

We ate a lot of duck and fois gras, which this region is known for. Conversations are pretty much non stop with this group.

Wednesday, we had a long day, but managed to get away in time for another Chateau and some wine tasting of a special wine of this region.

We learned that this region was a Protestant pocket within Catholic France. There was a religious war in the 1600's that allowed them to continue without further persecution.

A group of vinyards collectively bought the Chateau from a private family. It was run down and had no furniture in it. During renovation they discovered several books including this one in latin that has Calvin's handwritten notes in the margins.

The wine they make is like a sauterne. Its a sweet wine used as an apertif or desert and particularly known for pairing with fois gras. It requires the grapes to stay on the vine long enough to obtain the "noble rot" and then the grapes must be handpicked to avoid damaging them.

After tasting wine we went to restaurant in the country. The food as usual was excellent, but it was farmers food. They eat much more robust meals than what you might think of as a typical French dinner plate.

Too bad the focus is a little off. This is a nice picture of them.

Thursday we had the opportunity to visit the Medieval village of Saint-Émilion. We knew of it because of it's reputation for red wines, but what we didn't know was it's history as an important religious site. Starting from the monk Emilion who lived in a cave here in the 7th century.

The cloisters for the church above.

This church is built into the hill, with the steeple rising from the square above it.

These wash houses were built by the Romans and used for years for the villagers to wash their clothes. Today they provide a peaceful resting spot.

This garden was at a private residence.

This tower known as the Kings Keep. Its purpose and history is not known. It provides great views for those willing to walk it's 300+ stairs to the top.